Post by Matt of the Vivas on Aug 3, 2018 21:13:52 GMT
Right, now its sold i can admit it - i cocked up.
I bought this with the money from the Herald:
Its a spanish import LHD Citroen Ami Estate. Not registered in the UK - first mistake. I was told by the seller this was a simple process, as long as you had the spanish registration certificate - which he had all ready for me in an envelope along with the required forms. The car seemed solid enough, it was unusual and i rather liked it, so i bought it.
I sent the forms off to DVLA. 2 weeks later they returned with a refusal - the "registration certificate" was in fact an insurance document. Also, they had already advised someone of this previously - the seller im guessing... So kicked off a nightmare lasting 8 weeks trying to get it registered, this eventually involved James Walsh of Practical Classics (Hes a Citroen Fan) and the Citroen Car Club. Sadly, being a spanish built car there were no factory records, but cross matching the chassis number with other known cars eventually produced a date and a letter from the car club finally satisfied DVLA.
While this was going on, i was working on the car, getting it ready for the road. As part of this. i removed the front floor mats to have a look at the floor. Mistake number 2. I should have done this before i bought the car... What i saw was a layer of recently applied soundproofing applied over the front floors, bulkhead, and chassis top. With lumps in it. Odd looking lumps...
I started scraping and removed the soundproofing. Oh god. Galvanised steel plate. Held in with screws. Sealant. Mastic. Filler....
From underneath it all looked ok. I cant say it was done by the bloke who sold it to me. I can say it was done recently as the the screws holding it in were shiny and rust free, and the mastic was soft and uncured. I also see the same "private seller" has sold several more LHD spanish imports recently - and as he claimed to speak fluent Spanish he would have been well aware of what the "registration document" he gave me was.....
Anyway. My fault, my problem.
screencapture
I welded up the floors, bulkhead, chassis top.... Eventually got a V5 out of DVLA, got it road legal, and... sold it. At a loss.
How not to buy and sell Classic Cars.....
I bought this with the money from the Herald:
Its a spanish import LHD Citroen Ami Estate. Not registered in the UK - first mistake. I was told by the seller this was a simple process, as long as you had the spanish registration certificate - which he had all ready for me in an envelope along with the required forms. The car seemed solid enough, it was unusual and i rather liked it, so i bought it.
I sent the forms off to DVLA. 2 weeks later they returned with a refusal - the "registration certificate" was in fact an insurance document. Also, they had already advised someone of this previously - the seller im guessing... So kicked off a nightmare lasting 8 weeks trying to get it registered, this eventually involved James Walsh of Practical Classics (Hes a Citroen Fan) and the Citroen Car Club. Sadly, being a spanish built car there were no factory records, but cross matching the chassis number with other known cars eventually produced a date and a letter from the car club finally satisfied DVLA.
While this was going on, i was working on the car, getting it ready for the road. As part of this. i removed the front floor mats to have a look at the floor. Mistake number 2. I should have done this before i bought the car... What i saw was a layer of recently applied soundproofing applied over the front floors, bulkhead, and chassis top. With lumps in it. Odd looking lumps...
I started scraping and removed the soundproofing. Oh god. Galvanised steel plate. Held in with screws. Sealant. Mastic. Filler....
From underneath it all looked ok. I cant say it was done by the bloke who sold it to me. I can say it was done recently as the the screws holding it in were shiny and rust free, and the mastic was soft and uncured. I also see the same "private seller" has sold several more LHD spanish imports recently - and as he claimed to speak fluent Spanish he would have been well aware of what the "registration document" he gave me was.....
Anyway. My fault, my problem.
screencaptureI welded up the floors, bulkhead, chassis top.... Eventually got a V5 out of DVLA, got it road legal, and... sold it. At a loss.
How not to buy and sell Classic Cars.....
